Excited about hockey season, and excited about our DU story pegged for Thursday’s paper.

Freshman defenseman Nolan Zajac is the son of former Pioneer Tom Zajac (1973-76), but two of Nolan’s older brothers, Travis and Darcy, played at rival North Dakota, and a third brother, Kelly, concluded a four-year career at Union College last spring. Of course, Travis Zajac is a top-six forward for the New Jersey Devils.

I have so much good stuff, but not all of it will fit in the paper, so here’s some leftovers:

The Zajacs are from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and certainly all four boys had great opportunities to play in the Canadian Hockey League (major-junior). But Tom is thrilled to see all of them go to college.

“Hockey is a tough game to make it in. I think the boys, or girls, have to have something to fall back on,” he said. “I think the atmosphere of going to school and playing hockey for their school is something I wanted them to enjoy, just like I enjoyed.”

Tom said he didn’t encourage Nolan to choose DU. Rather, it was a coincidence.

“I left it up to Nolan, where he thought he fits in the best. I know when he went to visit DU he came back and said, ‘I don’t need to look at anyone else.'” North Dakota recruited Nolan, his father said, but his son never took an official visit to Grand Forks. “All of us just told him to make sure you go to a place you fit in and and a place you’re going to play.”

Nolan realizes he might catch some grief when DU visits UND for a series Dec. 7-8.

“Great place to play, good team, and it’s close to home, so I’ll have a lot of friends and family,” he said.

Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley reacts after throwing a touchdown pass during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Colorado, Saturday, Oct.20, 2012, in Los Angeles.

A look around the Pac-12 Conference Wednesday morning:

USC — Quarterback Matt Barkley and receiver Robert Woods on verge of career marks against Colorado. Barkley, who threw six touchdowns at Colorado last year, needs four to break the school and conference record of 99 set by Matt Leinart (2003-05. Woods needs five catches to become the school’s career leader.

BOULDER — Participating in Colorado’s weekly media luncheon, Buffs junior safety Parker Orms was asked about the psyche of the team considering the 1-5 start.

“We have a lot of guys that are discouraged,” Orms replied. “But we have the coaches that are pushing us every week. … ‘Why did you come to Colorado? What does the fight song mean to you? What do those words, fight, fight (pause) fight, fight fight mean to you?’

“Some guys are going to get that. Some guys it’s going to go in one ear and out the other. They’re thinking about their future. I try to tell the freshmen that it goes fast. You never know if you’re going to play next season or when your career is going to end.

“The first half of the season didn’t go well,” Orms added. “But we have six more games left. You can either try to turn that around or you can just give up.”

Kensler joined The Denver Post in 1989 and has covered a variety of beats, including Colorado, Colorado State, golf, Olympics and the Denver Broncos. His brush with greatness: losing in a two-on-two pickup basketball game at Ohio State against two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.